Mysteries A Narrative Poem by Larry J. Eriksson
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Mysteries: reflections on life and death * * * Things big and small (1) Born on an island in space, an ordinary planet or unique sanctuary? Apollo found a dead moon, saw Earth as a blue oasis. Are there other oases? (2) Gazing at the universe, we encounter countless stars and wonder what lies beyond. We are told that space is curved, but we still don t understand how there can be no beyond. (3) Puzzling spiral galaxies suggest there is dark matter that telescopes cannot see. Speeding galaxies may be driven by dark energy to overcome gravity. (4) As we ponder the big bang, we wonder what caused it and what was before time began? Can there be an end to time? Can existence have meaning in timeless eternity? (5) Running experiments on giant accelerators, we wonder about small things. Quantum mechanics describes atoms, not gravity, which remains a mystery. (6) To agree with our theories, the universe where we live must be more than what we see. Perhaps our theories are wrong, and we need new ideas to understand what we see? >>> 3
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Mysteries: reflections on life and death (cont.) * * * The elusive present (7) The great enigma of time: future becomes history in the elusive present. Before broadcast media, the present lasted longer, news remained current for days. (8) Letters took weeks to arrive, then the telegraph reduced the present to mere hours. Today, there are updates from radio and television, cell phones and the Internet. (9) Instant feedback produces gyrating emotions and troubling overreactions. Our lives are now a series of moments that vanish as quickly as they have appeared. (10) What do we make of ourselves when the present is gone and just past and future remain? We study history and speculate on the future from their moving boundary. (11) We know that time is passing and are caught up in its flow without knowing where it goes. Conscious beings trapped in lives that we do not understand despite our endless efforts. (12) A tangle of time and space we struggle to comprehend. Could we exist without them? A world beyond time or space, without either here or there, just is, no was or will be? >>> 5
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Mysteries: reflections on life and death (cont.) * * * The puzzle of existence (13) The puzzle of existence: are we unique or simply a thread in the web of life? Obsessed with self-awareness and a limitless desire to understand and control. (14) Despite our impressive feats, we live by simple rules. Can we be less than we think? Confused about big questions and crude in so many ways, we often do the wrong thing. (15) Could a few small mutations have generated the spark that formed homo sapiens? Are we an accident or the necessary result of years of evolution? (16) What other strange paths has life followed in a cosmos that reveals endless surprises? Carnivorous pitcher plants, new life at deep ocean vents nature exceeds our vision. (17) We enjoy watching the world and filling our little roles: cameo appearances played on a cosmic stage of wondrous complexity and perplexing uncertainty. (18) "Life is short" some people say, A euphemism for death: most lives are long, but all end. After countless acts and scenes, is it a gift or burden to know that the play must end? >>> 7
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Mysteries: reflections on life and death (cont.) * * * Thinking about thinking (19) Questions looking for answers. Why do we keep asking and what does it mean for our world? What does our asking tell us about our own lives and the universe in which we live? (20) We think about our thinking. A tough challenge for our minds: questioning the questioning. How can our minds be sure that their thoughts on thinking are not constrained by their own limits? (21) Self-referential statements like this statement is a lie result in contradictions. Gödel demonstrated that even mathematics has unanswerable questions. (22) Searching for the me in me: finding thoughts and memories. Where am I when they vanish? We change as we grow older, but feel like the same person. Why don t we feel different? (23) What is our identity? Some think of eternal souls, others see mind and body. We find it hard to believe that our essence is defined by chemicals in our minds. (24) As we ponder these questions, evolution continues with destination unknown. And we search the emptiness looking for an audience so we will not be alone. >>> 9
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Mysteries: reflections on life and death (cont.) * * * Searching for meaning (25) We perform an endless quest for the ultimate concerns that give meaning to our lives, attempting to integrate our past, present, and future into a meaningful whole. (26) Some religions use dogma to give simple answers, but ignore difficult questions. Those who like humanism tolerate questions better, but have no simple answers. (27) Some people find God through faith, some find God in nature, while others remain uncertain. The simple faith of children often leading to beliefs that we acquire from others. (28) Later, we may seek our own answers, and some may evolve beyond the need for answers, seeing ambiguity, not exclusivist truth or empty relativism. (29) For them, experiences, not dogma, are the best way to gain knowledge and wisdom, as they try to build a world that values diversity and seeks peace, love, and fairness. (30) Deist, theists, agnostics, atheists and humanists debate the meaning of life. Existentialists point to reality-based lives, not faith-based reality. >>> 11
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Mysteries: reflections on life and death (cont.) * * * What are we leaving? (31) We enter this world as babes, avoiding pain, seeking pleasure, as we experience life. We practice physical tasks, develop social talents, and intellectual skills. (32) We begin to understand how the world around us works, what we can do with our lives. We become working adults, perhaps find a life partner, and form our own families. (33) As we age, we begin to consider the ultimate meaning of the lives we lead. We lose relatives through death and begin thinking about the time when our lives will end. (34) A difficult idea for our simple minds to grasp, the world moving without us. How is it possible to die and no longer exist after years of thoughtful life? (35) Some counter their fear of death with belief in a heaven that will surpass life on Earth. These beliefs offer comfort, but distract us from this life and avoid the real question. (36) The question that should be asked is not what comes after death, but what of the life we live? What is the point of millions of years of evolution? What are we leaving in death? * * * (expanded from Perplexed in the chapbook Moonlight, 2010) 13
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Wisdom From My Dog Misty, I ve figured it all out except for the dog; the question is, what about the dog? Gampa, I know you are much smarter than me, but the dog isn t the question, the dog is the answer. 15
About the author Larry J. Eriksson is a Wisconsin writer and poet living in Madison and Ellison Bay with his wife, Karen. His poems preserve memories, clarify thoughts, explore feelings, or simply have fun with language. They have appeared in The Capitol Times, the Peninsula Pulse, the Poets Calendar of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets, the chapbook No Breath is Lost published by the Dickinson Poetry Series, Verse Wisconsin, and his chapbooks Moonlight, Moments, Mysteries, and Music. He is a member of the Poetry Group of the UU Fellowship of Door County and the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets. For over 30 years, he worked as a research engineer and manager specializing in acoustics, noise control, and signal processing. He is the author of many published technical papers, chapters in two engineering books, and two books on sociopolitical issues Business Decisions: the impact of corporate mergers and global capitalism on our lives (2002) and Broken Strings, Missing Notes: strengthening democracy and seeking justice in a nation out of tune (2005). In addition to writing, he enjoys reading, playing the violin, swimming, and cycling. Quarter Section Press Copyright 2011 by Larry J. Eriksson All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. www.quartersectionpress.com 16